Ukraine crisis: Peace talks stall in Minsk as the people of Debaltseve flee rebel …
Picture: AFP
Kyiv. As Ukraine’s government finally sat down with pro-Russian separatists for peace talks in Minsk yesterday, the people of Debaltseve were gathering in their town hall for evacuation as fire from heavy-calibre weapons boomed around them, The Independent reported.
Parts of the east-Ukrainian town have been without power, water or gas for days, and it is now besieged on three sides by rebel forces, whose recent offensive destroyed hopes that September’s peace accord would mark an end to the worst of the fighting. Any potential for progress yesterday appeared stymied as the meeting in Minsk broke up after four hours, with the Ukrainian representative quoted as accusing the separatists of undermining the talks.
In Debaltseve, Vyacheslav Abroskin, regional head of police, said the decision to evacuate came amid “ceaseless artillery strikes”, and “volunteers and police are travelling under fire to evacuate entire families”. Twelve civilians have been killed by shelling, he said, and almost 1,000 are understood to have left the town.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Stepan Poltorak, also announced yesterday the loss of a further 15 soldiers in clashes across the east of the country.
Debaltseve is on the highway linking Donetsk with the other main rebel stronghold of Luhansk and is a vital railway link for goods from Russia, which Kyiv accuses of arming the separatists. Separatists also continue to focus forces on Mariupol, in the south-east of the country.
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